Rohit's first innings dismissal is unpardonable

I have always been a supporter of Rohit Gurunath Sharma. There is little doubt that the man has enormous talent. Yet on days like this you just can't help but feel completely disillusioned with him. Each time there is an opportunity to stand up in overseas conditions, Rohit has failed us. Be it in South Africa or England, he has not done justice to his talent. And on occasions the manner in which he gets out is the most disconcerting. At Southampton for example, it was unpardonable to see him throw his wicket away against Moeen Ali in the first innings. Rohit had played himself in, a partnership was brewing for India with Ajinkya Rahane also batting well and it was almost tea at the Rose Bowl. Suddenly he gets himself into a tangle, charges down the track to Ali, fails to reach the ball and fails to check his shot either. All he did was chip the ball to mid-offs hands. That's what for me was the turning point of the match. Thereafter it was all England and now they have the momentum going into Old Trafford.

So what is the problem with Rohit? Is it a problem with technique in overseas conditions or is it in the mind? Having spoken to a whole lot of former cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Nasser Hussain, Mike Gatting, Arun Lal and others it is apparent that all of them feel there is nothing wrong with Rohit's technique. In fact, he looks terrific when he is batting and batting well. But all of a sudden he just gives up his wicket and does so in crucial situations. In the second innings at Southampton the stage was set for Rohit to become a hero. Three hours of batting on Day 5 and England would have started to feel pressure. Rohit, however, did not last even an over. And that's what pepped up the England bowlers and from there on there was no looking back. Yet again the ball was in the channel, just outside off stump and shaping away a bit and Rohit just pawed at it. He was playing away from his body and the faintest of nicks was good enough for the umpire.

Rohit, more than anyone else, has received the strongest backing of captain Dhoni. Knowing the man has talent, the skipper has given him more than his share of opportunities. And to be fair to him Rohit has played wonderfully well in patches. The two hundreds against the West Indies at home in November 2013, the ODI double hundred against Australia, his consistent scores in the Champions Trophy in England in 2013, he is an enigma as far as Indian cricket is concerned.

If Rohit has been a problem, so has Virat and Pujara in this series. If anything India was banking on Virat and Pujara to bat big. And both have looked good in patches. Pujara has got set in all the innings that he has played but one, looked well on course for a big score before making a mistake. And Virat, the biggest star in the horizon in the post-Tendulkar scenario, is making the outside the off stump mistake far too many times for his own liking. In the first innings at Southampton he looked good for his 39 and just when many had started to feel that he was turning it around after failures are Trentbridge and Lord's, he held his bat out to Anderson to be caught at slip. And in the second innings he just could not distinguish between the ball that would turn and the one that went straight through with the arm.

One doesn't know if Rohit will get another opportunity at Old Trafford. Perhaps not if Dhoni plays five bowlers. But for both Pujara and Virat it will be one of the biggest Tests of their careers. With the series at 1-1 with all to play for in the last two Test matches, the big boys need to put their hands up if India is to do well. India needs its big guns to fire come Manchester. Just to remind Virat, a certain 17 year old Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar got his first ever Test match hundred in a match saving cause at Old Trafford in 1990. The rest, as they say, is history. He is Sachin's successor in the Indian team. Enough to inspire Virat to bring out his best in the crucial Test match in Manchester.